Tidying my home with the KonMari Method – Part 2: Skincare and Makeup

My last tidying post was all the way back in September. I had gone through all of my clothes, shoes, and handbags, and was feeling pretty good about going through the rest of my belongings. I got as far as my books, and then things kind of stopped. I know part of the reason is that my husband is not into the whole idea of Marie Kondo’s book…at all. He’s very much the type of person to keep things in case we might need them “some day”. When I keep complaining that he has so many shirts (some that he has never worn since I’ve known him) that his closet has literally overflowed into mine, he makes an excuse, and we don’t get anywhere.

Rather than give up, I decided that it was better late than never to pick up where I left off in fall. This time I tackled all my beauty products. It was pretty daunting. At first, I was going to count each and every item, like I did with my clothing, but I decided to spare myself the horror, and to just dive in. The process of deciding what to keep and what not to keep is easy for me. I’m honest with myself, and if I know I’m never going to use a lipstick or an eye shadow, I have no problem putting it in the “no” pile, so I went through my makeup quickly.

These are a few rules and reminders I came up with for myself after going through my makeup:

Stop buying lip products. I probably tossed 3/4 of them. For some reason, lipsticks are the most tempting makeup item to me. I buy way too many of them, wear them once, put them in my drawer, and forget about them. I need to be more honest with myself and realize that I don’t wear lipstick often enough to justify having dozens of them. If I really, really feel the need to buy more, I need to research the formula and color before purchasing.

Don’t buy random things just because they’re cheap. I fell into this trap only a couple of weeks ago. I was at Target and bought several items that I knew nothing about because they were only a couple of dollars each. Sure, I wasn’t wasting a ton of money, but I could have used that toward one really great product instead of a bunch of duds that I ended up returning anyway. Which brings me to my next point:

Keep receipts and packaging in case I forget the first two points and end up with some shitty products that I don’t want. This seems anti-tidying, but if I’m going to get rid of things that don’t bring me joy, I would much rather return them and get my money back instead of throwing them in the garbage. Most stores in the US have really lenient return policies that let you return used makeup for a full refund if you have the original packaging and receipts.

Know which ingredients, colors, formulas, etc. work for me. I know after trial and error that cool toned makeup suits me more. Orange lipsticks and blushes don’t look great on me, so I shouldn’t waste my money on them. I also know that silicone-heavy products clog my pores, and that I don’t really like the look or feel of super matte lipsticks.

The No Pile. Yikes.

Again, yikes.

Going through my skincare was also pretty easy, since a lot of products were expired! The most time consuming part was probably dusting and reorganizing. I moved all of my “top shelf” skincare products from the sad little cart outside the bathroom to the medicine cabinet so that it they weren’t out in the open attracting cat hair and creating clutter.

Why do I keep the packaging, especially the ones in Korean?

Somewhat better!

The biggest rule I need to follow when it comes to skincare from now on is to pay attention to expiration dates. I need to make sure I’m not buying too many of the same type of product so that it’s impossible to use them up completely before they expire. I also need to make time to take those special steps in my skincare routine, e.g. toners, exfoliators, and masks. If I have the products, I might as well use them!

Now I need to go through all the things I’m not keeping, and decide what to throw away and what to give away (probably to my sister). The hardest part of tidying so far has definitely been the throwing away and/or donating step. It’s so easy to stuff things away in a closet and forget about them. I’m going to try my best though! I think after I’m 100% done with this step, I’m moving on to the kitchen, which needs major work. Maybe I can finally convince my husband to read Marie Kondo’s book, too…

1 Comment

[…] Last week, I wrote about getting rid of three quarters of my lip products (and a lot of other stuff). I may love makeup, but I’m not the kind of person who wears a different lipstick every day. I find that almost every lip product, no matter the brand or formula, is too high maintenance for me. I’m always drinking something (usually coffee or water), and I hate having to constantly check my lipstick in a mirror and touch it up. So, I’m trying to have some will power and stop buying lip products once and for all. Of course, if something really catches my eye, and I’m confident that it’s a good formula and that I’ll wear it often, I won’t feel bad about buying it. […]